Shawshank Redemption gave Shetty comeback hope from back injury

ON A PARTICULARLY wretched day stuck at home, with chances of a scheduled return from a back injury fading, India's terrific doubles shuttler, Chirag Shetty, returned to his favourite movie, Shawshank Redemption.

- SHIVANI NAIK

Shetty didn't pause at Morgan Freeman's Red saying hope was a dangerous thing. He soaked in the complete struggle of Andy Dufresne, till actor Tim Robbins, declared ".hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things and no good thing ever dies."

The last few months have squeezed Shetty and his doubles partner, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy dry, with grimness and tragedies. Olympics loss, patchy form, Satwik losing his father to a cardiac arrest, then felled by chickenpox. And Shetty silently battling spasmic back pain episodes - a mix of pain and frustration for someone who believes in being "productive every day" and can't sit still.

So Shetty mined out the Shawshank script to deal with desolation. "I revisited Shawshank Redemption, my favourite. It just reminded me of Andy's line on 'hope'. To keep it for 20 long years. He didn't rush to accomplish his escape in one day. He persisted for 20 years. It's about being slow and steady," Shetty says. "In my case, it could be 2 years, not 20."

At the core of this struggle of a former World No.1 and Asiad champion in a path-breaking career for Indian doubles, is a stubborn back injury. "I've always had back issues which normally settle down. But it was quite bad this time. I didn't understand why it was taking long," he said.